Apprentice
by GurtBewildered
Summary: Follow Maelstrom through his life as Slade's new apprentice. Will he destroy the Titan's? Join them? Usurp Slade? Who knows!


**Hello! This is my first fic ever! i really hope you guys enjoy it. Warning, it gets pretty graphic near the end. This will be a darker type of story most of the time, but i hope you like it. Don't be afraid to leave a review or follow. ~Gurt**

 _ **Jump City**_

"Titans go!"

The five super charged teens hurdled through and over the debris on the street, racing towards the large form of Cinderblock. Robin took the lead as he threw a barrage of birdarangs ahead of him, each one embedding themselves into the villain and detonating moments later. The villain roared before swiping at the party of teens. Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire all decided to either remain or go over the attack, while Robin was already sliding between Cinderblocks legs, making sure to at least smack one of them with his staff. However the swing and the pressure of the continuously raining starbolts left him horribly overbalanced, leaving his left side open to the quickly approaching green changeling. Cyborg was standing about twenty yards away from the action, charging his sonic cannon and preparing to let loose on the criminal.

Beast Boy charged towards Cinderblock in the form of a raptor before taking the form of a kangaroo for just enough time to allow him to jump high into the air, after which he changed into the form of a hippopotamus and smashed into Cinderblock's side, causing the large villain to stumble and nearly fall over. Cinderblock stayed kneeling for a moment before a large block of black magic collided with his right side alongside both a blast of energy and a loud "Boo-yah!" The villain crumbled to the ground incapacitated. A certain green changeling stood over him before he took a triumphant pose and shouted "T.K.O!"

The rest of the teens just rolled their eyes, however some of them had to suppress grins at the changelings antics.

The rest of the titans all walked up to the lying form of the villain and began to make small talk while waiting for the police to arrive with a vehicle suitable to transport the large villain. When the police finally did arrive they asked the Titans for a short report as to what happened, any damages, possible civilian casualties, and then thanked them and went to work prepping Cinderblock for transport. The heroes made their way back to their humble abode, Raven providing black disks to those who couldn't fly themselves. When they finally reached the tower they all diffused to where they were comfortable. Raven in the corner of the couch, Beast Boy and Cyborg in the center of the room turning the television on, and Starfire and Robin chatting in the kitchen.

A thought popped into Beast Boy's head, and he quickly voiced it to his group of super-friends. "Hey guys, after we clean up wanna go out for some pizza? It is almost seven. It's like prime dinner-time!" The majority nodded their approval of the idea, but a certain violet haired sorcerous replied in a steady monotone, "I have some research to do Beast Boy, so I can't go." The green changeling looked at the girl with a pleading look," Aw C'mon Rae-" She glared at him, silently giving him an opportunity to fix his mistake. After a moment before he rubbed the back of his head and continued,"Ven, You're always reading! Am I going to have to bring out the puppy dog eyes?" After finishing his rhetorical question he turned into a small beagle puppy and looked at the girl. The puppy would have caused any other girl to melt on the spot, it even made Raven feel a small spark, but it was quickly snuffed out with a firm, "No." The boy morphed back to his normal form before imitating the dog by putting his hands under his chin like paws and saying begging," Pwetty pwetty pwease Waven?" The girl rolled her eyes before responding in her never-changing monotone," If I say yes will you just shut up?" The boy's face was quickly consumed by a grin before needlessly responding with a cheery, "Yup!" She stood, leaving the others as she went to get a quick shower before they left for dinner. The common room quickly emptied as they all left for showers. Except Cyborg of course. He was just going to wipe off some of the dirt on him with a cloth from the garage and maybe even work a bit on the T-car. So all in all, it was a pretty normal day in Titans Tower.

Elsewhere

Two men stood over a cylindrical sort of cryo-chamber in a dark room. The one on the left was easily the more intimidating. He was covered in black combat armor from head to toe, but half of his mask was covered a yellowish gold color. He was visibly armed to the teeth, with two swords on his back, four grenades on the back of his belt, two pistols on his hips and blades skillfully hid in the toe of of his boots, with the edges of the blades just barely poking out enough to cut someone seriously, maybe even fatally with a swift kick.

The one on the right was an older fellow, the hair on his face clearly white, along with the wrinkles on his face these factors marked the man as over seventy, and he probably had less than two decades left to live. He wore a simple white overcoat over a white dress shirt and red neck tie paired with black slacks and dress shoes. He was only armed with a silver 9mm pistol at his hip in a simple black holster.

The man on the left spoke after linking his hands behind his back, but his eyes were still locked on the chamber and what it contained. "Wintergreen. Do you think he is ready?" Wintergreen stood silent, rubbing his chin and thinking for a moment before finally giving his reply in a strong, deep voice. "Yes Master Wilson I do believe he is." Both men gazed at the tube before walking to the left portion of the room. As they walked dim white lights illuminated their path, but shedding nearly no light on the rest of the room. The man, Wilson, walked to the computer terminal that was installed into the titanium walls of the facility. The screen flared to life, displaying simple green text that read 'Authorization required'. Wilson spoke in quiet voice, barely loud enough for the terminal to register it. He said, "Direct Parameter override number three forty-three. Code maelstrom". The screen went black for a moment before displaying the message 'Authorization granted. Confirmation required'. He typed out a single word on the keyboard before it went black for the final time. The man sighed and walked over to the now rising cryo-chamber.

Whenever it finally rose to stand vertically, you could see that it was filled with some sort of blue liquid. But near the top was a stark white face, appearing to belong to a teenager. The fluid began to drain from the chamber, releasing the boy from his medically induced slumber. He began shivering, subtly at first, but soon escalating violently. The boy was around five foot ten in height, with grey hair trimmed short on the sides but long enough on top to give him a few inches of hair falling down his forehead. He was not very muscular, he would stand no chance at any weight lifting competitions but he still had plenty of lean muscle. He was in black boxer-briefs, but remained naked otherwise. He could have been no older than sixteen or seventeen. The glass door of the chamber opened, causing the boy to fall onto the floor and curl into the fetal position on the cold floor, still shivering violently.

Wilson walked over to the boy and kneeled down before placing a dark red wool blanket over the boy. He placed his hand on his shoulder and spoke in a soft voice. "My name is Slade Wilson. Some call my Deathstroke as well, but I have abandoned that name for now. I have given you a very special gift boy. You are to be my weapon. You will destroy the Titans of Jump City and raze the city to the ground until nothing is left standing. Now rise and accept your position Maelstrom."

The boy rose at the command, not being able to find the will to resist the man's voice. He allowed the blanket to slide from his shoulders as he stopped shivering and replied in a voice devoid of any emotion.

"Yes Master."

Slade nodded his head and motioned for both Wintergreen and The boy to follow. They walked to the edge of the room and the wall sprang open revealing a winding corridor. They walked in silence, the only noise audible was the sound of the shoes two of the men wore clacking against the steel floor in an unwavering rhythm. They walked for a few more minutes before finally entering a door on the right side of the passage. The room had a grassy floor and inside were targets shaped like various objects. Some were police officers, some were buildings, and some were heroes wearing generic costumes. Slade looked around the room for a moment before nodding his approval. His gaze traveled to the boy, who stood silently at his side, looking forward and awaiting any command. He grinned underneath his mask before finally saying, "Now, destroy the targets in this room with your powers. Show us what you're capable of Maelstrom. Your life depends on it." Slade and Wintergreen each took a few steps back, giving the boy room to work.

Maelstrom took a few steps forward before scanning the room and locating the targets. He raised his hand towards opposite sides of the room and began to work his powers for the first time. A strong current of wind flew from his left hand, and from his right a floating orb of water appeared. He brought his hands together, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration. The two elements slowly became intertwined, the wind moving and taking the rapidly chilling water with it. Maelstrom looked towards a target near the center of the room and took aim. The arctic wind froze the outside of the orb of water, and it shot towards the target. It hit the target square in the chest, causing the orb to burst and cover the target in a thin layer of ice. Maelstrom looked at the target and frowned.

 _I can do much better than that._

His eyes closed as he began channeling his power into his hands again, but this time instead of water coming from his right hand it was fire. Wind began swirling in front of him, until a small tornado was created. Maelstrom grinned and threw the large fire from his right hand into the vortex. The tornado immediately came ablaze. With his right hand no longer focused on growing the fire he was free to use both hands on navigating the vortex, and increasing its strength. It was now around thirty feet high and sweeping towards the targets leaving a trail of fire in its wake, singing the grass.

 _Yes! Burn!_

It tore apart the targets savagely, incinerating the pieces in the air. The tornado took on a ghostly black appearance with all of the ash in it, it darkened to the point where it was just a pitch black cone of wind, with the only color coming from it coming from the fire that burned even brighter. Most of the targets were gone by now, but Maelstrom wasn't done yet. He swiftly cut off the supply of power to the burning vortex and it crumbled in seconds. He began focusing again. Water shot from his right hand and doused the remaining targets and the ground between them in water. A sparking was coming from his left hand. He poured more power into it and it grew, sparks flying from his hand with electricity arcing between his fingertips. He grinned before throwing the electricity towards the water. It shot towards the water, and quickly electrocuted the rest of the targets, and they slowly began to catch fire. Maelstrom looked at the fire and pointed his hands towards it. It rose a few feet higher into the air before maelstrom sent it crashing against the left wall of the room. He turned around and looked to Slade for further instruction.

Nobody could see it, but the large man was smiling brightly underneath his mask, but kept it from showing in his voice when he informed the boy of his next challenge. "Now we've seen you can hit targets that are sitting still, but can you hit people boy?" A door at the opposite end of the room opened with a loud swish before 6 men entered the room, each man carrying a club or sword. Slade looked at the boy before saying in a loud voice, "Go."

The men sprang to life, splitting into two groups of three and running from opposite sides to attempt to flank Maelstrom.

 _This should be fun._

He pointed his right hand at the group on his right and caused a small bump to appear in their path to trip them. It went unnoticed and tripped all of them. As they lay on the ground trying to regroup Maelstrom caused the earth around them to rise, enveloping their arms and legs so they could not come any closer to him. He looked to the left and noticed that the group was closing in on him now. They were only about thirty feet away. Both of his hands rose towards the three men, from the left came a wall of strong wind buffeting them all and knocking one man onto his back. From his right shot a fireball that connected with one of the men's chest and burning right through him. The man fell to the ground dead. The last approaching man was only about five feet away now, so Maelstrom readied for close combat and settled into a boxers stance as a thought popped into his head.

 _Can I use my powers to fight hand to hand?_

He infused his limbs with air, causing him to land four fast, strong jabs on the man the moment he came within range. The man was still standing though, and he swung his large club with all of the strength he could muster. Maelstrom infused his arms with earth, but leaving his legs fast and unimpeded. He caught the man's club over his head and ripped it from his hands. His hand closed around the man's throat, quickly doing irreparable damage and sentencing the man to an airless death. Maelstrom threw the body to the side, only to be greeted by a sword slashing towards him.

 _I guess the first one didn't die from that wind. Oh well._

His legs, still infused with air carried him out of the way of the strike at the last moment. Maelstrom kicked off the ground with all the strength he could and launched himself at the man feet first. His right foot kicked the man's face to the side shattering his jaw in the process. The man slumped to the ground unconscious. Maelstrom stood and walked to the man. He wasn't dead yet. He grinned as he plunged an earth-infused fist at the man's skull, shattering it and imploding the man's head, splattering the bone and brain on the ground and on his hand. Maelstrom scowled down at his hand, frowning in distaste before walking over to the other three men who were still trapped in the ground. He silently infused his legs with earth, causing his walk to slow considerably. He looked at the first man who was crying large tears and pleading with him. "Please man c'mon! I yield! I fucking yie-".

His sentence was interrupted by a foot coming down onto his chest, shattering his heart, lungs, and rib cage at one. The man was dead instantly. Maelstrom was smiling now. He walked up to the man in the middle of the three and stood over him for a moment. The man shat himself.

. _Pathetic._

Maelstrom lit a small fire at the corner of his shirt, letting the blaze slowly begin to consume the man. His screams soon filled the room. The last man was watching this with tears pouring down his face and vomiting on the ground in front of him. Maelstrom quickly had an idea. The ground under the man's face began to rise and form itself into a bowl, still collecting vomit. The bowl rose until it submerged the man's nose and mouth in his own vomit. He struggled for nearly a minute before finally going limp. The man on fire had finally truly caught fire now. You could have fried marshmallows on him. His screaming was gut-wrenching. Maelstrom looked at him and snarled, "Shut the fuck up you waste of air!" he used water from his left hand to douse the flame on the man. He was lying on the ground still trapped. The skin on half of his body had already started melting. But he was still alive. Maelstrom smiled before gather electricity in his left hand. He punched the man in the chest causing the electricity to spread throughout his already ruined body, electrocuting him and killing him in seconds.

Maelstrom walked over to Slade slowly before standing at his side once more. "Are you satisfied master?" The large man just stared at him with his one eye, showing no emotion. A moment passed, then two, then five, but finally Slade answered.

"Very happy my apprentice."

 **I am not sure when i will have the next chapter out. really depends on the response i get from you guys. Until next time.**


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